After eight years of kids coloring on, gluing on, and banging into our kitchen table, Tom and I finally came to the realization that something needed to be done. As much as we didn’t want to refinish it, we know that it had to happen.

It didn’t look too bad from a distance…

But up close, it had definitely seen better days.

We considered stripping and restaining it, but I’m really having a black furniture moment right now. So, I decided to use Glidden’s new Diamond™ paint on it. I ran into our area’s Glidden rep at Home Depot not too long ago, and he was so excited to tell me all about the new formula and the extensive testing it went through. It’s supposed to be great on durability and scrubability, so I figured that it would work wonderfully on a piece of furniture that receives a lot of use.

Tom and I hauled the table out to our garage and started sanding off the original finish and evening out all of the scratches and dings. We started with a belt sander and 150-grit sandpaper. This is what it looked like after sanding half of the table down.

After we were finished with the 150-grit pass, we put 220-grit sandpaper on a finish sander to smooth it out. The result was super smooth.

This table has a leaf that flips underneath it, so I separated the sections before painting. I also used a tack cloth to wipe off all of the sanding dust so that my paint finish would remain smooth.

Glidden Diamond™ is a paint + primer formula, so I decided not to use a stand alone primer. I was worried that the paint might soak into the wood, but this is what it looked like after one coat of paint. Outstanding! I used a mohair roller, and the application was very smooth.

I gave it 2 more coats of paint (3 total) thinking that it would have extra durability. Let’s be honest – I don’t know if that’s how it works or not, but I figure I’d rather paint more coats now than have to go through this process again down the road.

I don’t really have any pictures of the painting process, since I try to work quickly to maintain a wet edge with no roller marks. However, I did get a picture to show you how I let the paint lay. Here is a picture of one of the legs right after I rolled it. I try to use a really light hand and don’t worry about smoothing it all out. You can see at the top where the paint itself doesn’t look smooth.

A good quality paint will level (i.e. smooth out and lay flat), and Glidden Diamond met that challenge. Here’s the same leg after it was dry.

Because it is 103432098349 degrees outside right now, I painted the entire table in my kitchen. Glidden Diamond™ is no VOC and low odor, but I would say that there is actually no odor. Tom walked into the house from work and couldn’t even tell that I had been painting. There’s virtually no odor – I honestly stuck my face in the paint can and couldn’t smell the paint.

It’s too soon for me to talk about how wear this paint will wear on our kitchen table, but I am very optimistic about it. Even just two days after painting it, I can put plates and bowls on it without them sticking. That’s a good sign to me, because that rarely happens so soon after I paint a piece of furniture.

I’m really happy with the way my table looks now, and the transformation was really inexpensive (other than the chairs I bought, but I have been coveting these for years).

Obviously, Glidden Diamond™ will perform exceptionally well on your walls. Just think what it could mean in high traffic and kid areas. Durable and scrubable? Yes, please!

Want to try it out yourself? Glidden is giving away 5 gallons of Glidden Diamond™ to one lucky winner! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below (you’ll need to switch over to my blog if you are reading this post via email) to be entered. This sweepstakes is open to U.S. residents, 18 and older.

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Jack and Duke). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

Comments

Love the new chairs!! I’ve been wanting to repaint our master bedroom, that’s definitely what I would use the paint for if I won! It’s just a regular beige right now and I’ve been wanting to go dark, like a slate grey/blue.

Hi Lindsay, I’m loving the Diamond paint & primer and the way you showed how it leveled out. Roadside score some months ago that needs a few coats of this paint to eventually become a lovely linen closet w/glass doors. Your table looks great.

This makes me excited! I just bought Glidden Paint in Lindsay “White” at Home Depot for the first time to paint our kitchen cabinets. Of course I did get the strange look when I asked to have the white made white-er.

Holy cow!! It really did flatten out nicely!! Thanks for the visual proof, because I would have wasted time fussing over it trying to get it to look better wet. And the temperature sounds like my kids last soccer game… on turf… just a few degrees short of the surface of the sun!!! It’s always great to see your posts!

I’m really glad you posted about this. I have a kitchen table that is looking really rough and desperately needs to either be refinished or put out to pasture. Refinishing/painting will be much better for my budget 🙂

I really like the look of the table. My question is did you do a poly top coat to the table for more durability. I just painted a set of kitchen cabinets in my kitchen with the Glidden Diamond paint in Oriental Berry. I love the paint but am wondering, if a poly coat is needed or not.

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About Makely

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Jack and Duke). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.